The manufacturing of cigarettes involves application of unusually high manufacturing standards and requirements for product quality. The cigarettes are made on high-speed manufacturing machines and even a momentary abberation in machine operation can result in the manufacture of substantial quantities of cigarettes which do not meet the requisite standards for product quality. For example, the wrapping in which the cylinder of shredded cigarette tobacco is enclosed may not sufficiently, tightly engage the tobacco to provide the cylinder with the required degree of firmness or alternatively, there may be an insufficient volume of tobacco within the cylinder. As a result, and by reason of constant monitoring of the manufacturing process, cigarettes which do not measure up to the set standards are rejected and collected and removed from the processing line to insure that no cigarettes below the desired standard or quality level are packaged and shipped for ultimate retail sale. Inasmuch as the tobacco in the cigarettes is in all respects satisfactory for its intended purpose, and due to the cost of tobacco, it is desirable that the tobacco in rejected in rejected cigarettes and/or "long ends" be reclaimed for further useful processing. In order to do so, requires that the tobacco be separated completely from the wrapping in which the cigarette has been formed and that such tobacco, when ultimately reintroduced into the cigarette manufacturing line, be substantially completely free of any residue of the wrapping and represent a substantially pure tobacco product. It will be understood that "wrapping" includes not only the paper cylinder in which the tobacco was wrapped, but the filter plug and filter wrap in the case of a filter cigarette as well as any combining and/or tipping paper as may be embodied in the cigarette. Any method and apparatus utilized for the purpose of effecting reclamation of the tobacco from rejected cigarettes should be such as to efficiently and economically result in separation of the tobacco from the wrapping, be as fully automated as possible, and result in providing a substantially pure tobacco end product containing, if any, only the barest trace of wrapping residue.